Austerity measures in Europe have been the topic of a heated and mostly confused debate in the economic world. During the May summit of the leading industrial nations at Camp David, German chancellor Angela Merkel and other European leaders pushed for continued European austerity. Keynesian critics argue that these policies destroy economic growth.

Almost half of Americans say federal income taxes are too high, and many believe there is a need for major reforms. The latest polls indicate that Americans believe Republicans could handle tax reform better than Democrats.

America's confidence in Wall Street and banks is plummeting.

To be “close-minded” is, according to the dictionary, to be “intolerant of the beliefs and opinions of others; stubbornly unreceptive to new ideas.” To be conservative and close-minded, according to popular portrayal, is a redundancy—a package deal that liberals can and do take for granted.But University of Virginia...

For the past ten years, pollsters have tracked the opinions of Americans as they have wrestled with the difficult questions associated with the post-9/11 world. They have probed opinions on preemptive warfare, profiling, torture, assassination, domestic surveillance, and of course, the war itself. More than a thousand of these questions have been reviewed for a new AEI Public Opinion Study.

Political dysfunction. Partisanship at record levels. Attack politics run amok. And public approval of Congress scraping the single digits (Sen. John McCain is fond of saying it's down to blood rlatives and paid staff).

Obama's decision to campaign -- er, conduct official business -- on university campuses last week was not surprising. According to exit polls, there was no surge of young voters in 2008.

Ratings agency systems should promote a wealth of information and opinion about price and value.